Walt Havenstein preaches his economic ideals at Sea Hagg Distillery

NORTH HAMPTON — Gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein continued his "factory floor to entrepreneur" tour Friday with a stop at Sea Hagg Distillery, which the Republican said serves as a perfect example of a business that would benefit from ideological changes at the state level.

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By Kyle Stucker

seacoastonline.com

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Aug. 9, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Aug. 9, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

NORTH HAMPTON — Gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein continued his "factory floor to entrepreneur" tour Friday with a stop at Sea Hagg Distillery, which the Republican said serves as a perfect example of a business that would benefit from ideological changes at the state level.

The growing rum-makers say their marketing is "limited" because state oversight requires them to drive to Concord to register their sample bottles.

Owner Heather Hughes said she must then return to Concord on another day to purchase those sample bottles back from the state before they can give them to bar owners she's trying to convince to serve Sea Hagg's spirits.

"This has been very frustrating for us," Hughes said.

The issue is one of several Hughes and her partner, distiller Ron Vars, face from the state, which both enforces distilleries and makes money off the sale of their products.

Havenstein, who will square off in a GOP primary Sept. 9 against Andrew Hemingway, said a "cultural shift" is needed to help startups like Sea Hagg continue to grow New Hampshire's economy and business climate.

"This is exactly the type of thing you want more of here in New Hampshire," said Havenstein, the former chief executive officer of BAE Systems. "If you're focused on job creation, you look at things a lot differently than if you're focused on revenue creation. Let's get focused and start shifting our thinking from enforcement to encouragement."

Havenstein unveiled earlier this week an economic plan that calls for the creation of 25,000 jobs by Aug. 15, 2007.

The plan centers around cutting some regulations and reducing the business profits tax from 8.5 percent to 7.4 percent. Havenstein said the goal is to make New Hampshire more competitive as well as more supportive of new businesses.

Havenstein said the state's government can be "adversarial" to these types of businesses at times.

"That is fundamentally what we need to change," said Havenstein.

Havenstein's proposed business profits tax cut is estimated to bring in about $49 million less revenue over a two-year period, although Havenstein said corresponding cuts wouldn't be needed if the state can at least maintain its current rate of growth.

Democratic party leaders have argued that Havenstein's plan would require service cuts. They have also said New Hampshire's current budget and tax structure has the state poised to continue to lead the nation in export growth while maintaining one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

In addition to Hughes and Vars, Sea Hagg employs four part-time individuals in their 135 Lafayette Road production facility, which has been open since 2012.

Vars said Sea Hagg is hoping to more than double its output from 1,000 cases of product to 2,500 cases by the end of this year, and the business recently expanded its distribution into Massachusetts and Maine.

Sea Hagg will also soon add a second story to its production room as it eyes other opportunities for expansion.